Hand of the Gods is a free-to-play strategy card game that players have placed in a genre alongside titles like Hearthstone and Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. It takes the mythological gods featured in the SMITE universe and sees them as leaders of their respective pantheons, such as Mayan, Egyptian and Norse. Each pantheon has a special leader ability and accompanying cards. Mixing the two together creates a variety of playstyles and strategies with the attraction of card collecting to boot.

Formerly known simply as SMITE Tactics, Hand of the Gods was announced last year and began closed testing shortly after. The PC version went into open beta in July. Its release will roll out on consoles in the same fashion as SMITE and Paladins; it will begin with a closed testing phase and will be followed by an open beta before later releasing in full.

Always looking to incentivize players to invest in their full library of games, Hand of the Gods has a Founder's Pack that gives access to the Enyo Bellona skin in SMITE, similar to how SMITE cosmetics could be obtained by buying the PaladinsFounder's Pack. There is also the Venus Competitors Pack that will reward SMITE players the Venus Aphrodite skin. The packs are already available for the PC version and can be expected to appear on consoles further in the testing phase.

For those interested in testing out the free game on console, sign ups are already live for Xbox One here or PS4 here.

In a few descriptors: college student, longtime gamer, writer and junk food enthusiast. I contribute to TrueAchievements as a news writer and reviewer. Usually, you can find me knee-deep in a multiplayer game while ignoring my growing backlog or on one forum or another discussing all things gaming.